Cohesive game, with gorgeous characterization and imagery. Gameplay long-term seems a little daunting: I cannot understand how when passing skill checks I did not see improvement on any skill at the end of the first chapter. Perhaps I misunderstood but this sounds like the way in which the MC raises skill levels is passing skill-checks? This doesn't overshadow how much I delighted in the game but would certainly hinder chapter progress. Thanks again for your awesome work!
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Passing skill checks does not improve your skills. Rather, you will have the chance to level up your skills at the end of each chapter. The amount of skill points you have available to expend during your level up depends on your final health status for that chapter. The better your health, the higher your chance of receiving the maximum amount of skill points (3 per chapter).
How you expend your skill points is up to you. You can keep your skills as even across the board as possible, or you can focus on one or two skills. There are pros and cons to both. An even build means that you have a lower chance of success for all your skills. On the other hand, prioritizing one or two skills means that the skills you don’t level up will become harder to pass as the game progresses.
Keep in mind that the point of skill checks is not to pass every check or to "win" your stat checks. This isn't a game you can min-max. While skill checks are mechanical, they are also there for roleplaying (for example, if you’re roleplaying a character who is of an “attack first, figure things out later” mindset, you can prioritize strength and agility over persuasion and perception). Your character is intended to fail, just as much as they are intended to succeed. Skill checks are attached to a dice roll, so there is always a chance you could pass a check for a skill you haven't leveled--just as there is a risk of failing a check on a skill you have developed. The main character is skilled, but they are also fallible, and the gameplay is intended to reflect that.
I know this is a shift from how interactive fiction and RPGs are typically played (with the "right" and "wrong" dialogue options, completing or failing quests, winning or losing fights), but failure is a crucial part of the game. Failure never stops or hinders the story or the player's progress--all it does is lead to a different outcome. And maybe your ideal outcome for a situation will be to fail your stat check! Regardless of how your skill checks go, there will always be a way forward and your character will always progress. How they move through the story is the thing that changes.
I hope that answers your concerns! Thank you so much for checking out the game and playing it!